Projects

  • Our NHMRC project grant aims to test if adding an inexpensive oral medication, fenofibrate, will improve the outcomes of diabetic macular edema (DME) treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes. This multi-centre randomised placebo-controlled trial has the potential to change clinical practice by providing a new, inexpensive and well-tolerated oral medication to treat established DME.  
  • Our recently funded NHMRC Partnership Project will implement and evaluate a comprehensive support service tailored to family carers of persons with AMD. This study was co-developed with our partner organisations, Macular Disease Foundation Australia and Carers NSW, with the key objective of improving the design and delivery of their existing support services and programs, and ultimately reducing family carer burden and improving the overall wellbeing of carers.
  • A Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA) funded project aims to establish the risk factor profile of a large cohort of late-stage AMD patients attending Westmead Hospital for therapy. Modifiable factors such as nutrition, smoking, body mass and non-modifiable factors such as genetic factors will be documented to define the typical profile of patients presenting for treatment.
  • A MDFA-funded project proposes to use metabolomics technology to determine which small molecule metabolic pathways are disrupted in AMD. We will use an integrated approach and collect data about genetics, diet, lifestyle risk factors, biochemical metabolites and different stages of macular degeneration. This will permit an overview of much of the pathogenic disease process and help us uncover the biochemical pathways leading to the disease. 
  • An Australian Heart Eye Study is exploring the associations between various ocular conditions such as AMD, cataract, glaucoma, retinopathy and retinal microvascular signs with the severity and extent of coronary artery disease as well as atrial fibrillation and heart failure.
  • Retinal vessel changes in adolescents and adults are being investigated as a potential biomarker for predicting incident diabetic retinopathy, other ocular diseases, and systemic cardiovascular disease such as stroke and ischaemic heart disease.
  • The Liverpool Eye and Diabetes Study (LEADS) aims to determine the prevalence of diabetic eye disease in South West Sydney, the associations with systemic risk factors, and novel screening strategies to minimise vision loss. 
  • The International AMG Gene Consortium (IAMDGC): The Retinal and Eye Disease Research Group at the Centre for Vision Research has contributed cases and control data to this international collaboration for further genetic discovery of AMD. Two major articles from this collaboration are in Nature Genetics:  one published in 2013 and another currently under review after revision.     
  • The Three Continent Age-related Macular Degeneration Consortium (3CC) includes the BMES in Australia, the Beaver Dam Eye Study in the USA and Rotterdam Study in the Netherlands. All have long-term follow-up on the development and progression of AMD, and detailed environmental exposures and genes.